Maschmellow @ Privi-lee-zhee, Samba, AIESEC, and more!

Ola meus amigos e minhas amigas!

Ahh so I´ve finally gotten to writing a little again, I´ve been meaning to for a while. So, last time I wrote, it was about my trip to Rio. Since then I´ve been quite busy though havent gone on any other trips out of town yet.

First of, I´ve been to a few parties here in Juiz de Fora, to a funk party at a fancy club called Privelege (you say it "Privileee-zheee", it sounds very cool), and if you guys dont remember, funk is a type of Brazilian hip-hop music which made me feel quite intimidated in Rio. In JF, the manner of dancing wasnt quite so extraverted though, although the actual funk only started at like 2 am!

Anyways, Privilege is quite a cool place (although, pretty expensive, as many things in Brazil actually are), surrounded by a forest, in a big beautiful building, and an extra restaurant as well. I also went to Privilege last week for a "Top of the Pops" party with some people who invited me, and yes, it was Western music, haha. It was cool though, and a nice company. And many, many gay couples... I will say no more :P
The party was really fun with lots of pop hits, old and new, but what was also pretty memorable for me, was that when I went to get a taxi home, a bit earlier than my friends, I got one with another girl who was also going into town. She was pretty impressed with my Portuguese considering I was then only in Brazil for 5 weeks (now its 6 lol), as most people catch on pretty quickly when I speak that I´m not Brazilian (or, as they call it, gringa); and she told me: "Voce está doida", which means "You are crazy". This girl was kinda funny, and very talkative, and according to what I understood, I was therefore crazy for going back home on my own in a foreign city haha.

Of course, when most people think of Brazilian music, the genre they immediately arrive at is samba. As some of you may know, I´ve tried a little samba in Holland already a few years ago, and I went to a samba party in town a couple of weeks ago. I have to say, if you´re worried about gaining weight (and I maybe should be, as I eat more here than I generally do, although so far I havent seen any changes. I thought I was being abnormal, but apparently Brazilians just kinda eat all the time... so maybe it just means I´m integrating well!), samba is a very good workout. It is hard! And then you see some girls just dancing away at a speed that could get them all the way to planet Venus before they know it, and just feel inadequate with your feeble little attempts at learning it. But maybe it wasnt so bad - this week I was told that I was dancing samba like a Brazilian who doesnt know how to dance samba, rather than a foreigner who doesnt know how to dance samba. So there you go, I´m pretty content with that.

The band that was playing the samba was really nice though. The woman´s voice was really good, and some songs were really cool. I have to say, Brazilian music really is very rich. This week I went to a samba performance at a cultural dance school with some friends, and while I was expecting a performance of just samba dancing, it was a lot more than that, exceeding my expectations. The show was a mix of music and dancing (a samba style called samba gafiera, danced in couples, I believe it is a more traditional samba style), some singing, acting, a plot, and even video of the actors/dancers involved. It was actually about a real person, a samba musician from Juiz de Fora. It was only about an hour long, but really excellent. And afterwards, we congratulated a bunch of performers who were in it, and it is so funny that here you even kiss them on the cheeks when you meet them afterwards, even if you´ve never met before (and probably won´t meet again). My friends and me hung around on the balcony for a little while the actors were getting ready to leave, and actually I havent met a couple of the girls before, so that was nice to get acquanted.

I´ve also been to a couple of house visits, to the house of a teacher from Saci (whose daughter is in one of my bilingual classes), where there were also her son and his girlfriend, and another friend, and it was nice to get to know everyone. They were actually the ones who took me to Privilege for the pop party. They also taught me the meaning of some funk lyrics, and I haven´t realized till then that the lyrics were quite that explicit :p

I´ve also visited the house of my friend Vico, and yesterday I joined him and his family at a hotel/bar type of place where some of his family were performing famous Brazilian songs, which was also fun, to just hang around, chat and, of course, eat ;) (It really isnt just me, its the culture... what a relief!).

And last weekend was the AIESEC discovery days weekend for the new members the committee has recently recruited, and I was invited (/requested, hehe) to come along. It was at this big house they rented, somewhere at the outskirts of the city, with some nice views of hills and other pretty houses. The house was really big, although most of it was just for the owner who rented the place to us, but we had quite a bit of space downstairs for the AIESEC activities, introduction stuff, parties, etc. There was even a pool that some LC (local committee) members were thrown in at the end (luckily, not me), although during the day there was no sunbathing by the pool as they had a tight schedule with lots of work to be done. Well, they had lots of work, like introducing the 29 or so new members to different aspects of AIESEC, discussing the current affairs of the LC, etc. On Sunday, I and a few others who have been or are on an AIESEC exchange, were asked to participate in some sharing between trainees and new and old members about our exchange experience; but aside from that I didnt have many tasks to do as I´m not a member of LC and my Portuguese is limited. Oh yes, that said, most of the stuff was actually in Portuguese, so it really tested my skill levels. But many people were very impressed nevertheless by how fast I´m learning the language, and I did try my best to understand things (of course, people also spoke English. And when we did our sharing, I did so in English. But all the presentations and discussions were in Portuguese, so I tried understanding them as well as I could. And I interacted with people, particularly new members, in a mixture of English and Portuguese).

We did a bunch of roll calls too, which are a typical aspect of AIESEC culture: a dance routine to various songs. And are there many! We did one a couple of times that I learned in Shanghai and which is really famous the world over called "Tunak, Tunak", so I was really excited. For the rest, I had to learn on the go as I am almost as clueless about AIESEC roll calls as the new members are. That was a workout too ;) And the party on Saturday night involved many of these roll calls, with a few people leading the way - it is amazing how many roll calls they can remember.
During the weekend, you could post little notes into each others´ "mailboxes", and pick up your envelope on Sunday evening. So I wrote a bunch of little notes to a bunch of people, and now have a small stack myself :)

And tomorrow is Konninginnedag! It´s amazing how fast time flies, really. I wish those of you in Holland an awesome Qday and long weekend, party for me! :p
Tomorrow is also a cultural Russia day at Saci (yep, a bit ironic, I know, but I´m obviously pretty used to cultural mixes by now), and hopefully it will go well :) We worked really hard on it this week with the teacher whose class is responsible for it.

I hope you guys are all doing well! Those of you reading this outside of Brazil (well, most of you), I miss you all!

Muitos beijos pros todos!

^^

RIO DE JANEIRO

Hey!

As promised, I want to write a little about our trip last weekend, which was to the famous "cidade maravilhosa" - Rio de Janeiro!

But first, I want to give some respect to Rio and its surroundings following the terrible floods over the last few days, as I´m sure many of you have heard about. It´s really terrible what´s been happening there, and it´s strange if you think about it that I am in Brazil during this time, and I see the news about it every day here on Brazilian TV... and what´s even more, I was actually still in Rio the day before the rains had started! We were very lucky, since imagine if the rains had begun a couple of days earlier...

That said, I must say that Rio de Janeiro (literally, it means "the river of January") is an impressive city, and I definitely want to go back there again, as I was only there for a short time (but I have to wait it out now, of course..). The city is basically divided into three parts, zona norte, centro, and zona sul, the latter being the most popular and famous with visitors, which proudly hosts both Ipanema and Copacabana. On my first day in Rio, I went up to the famous Corcovado, up on the mountain, where the figure of Christ the Redeemer stands. The views over the city are truly beautiful, and I´m glad that I got to see them first from a lower platform, while the sun was still shining (it was the end of the afternoon), as the view of Rio bathed in sunlight is gorgeous, with the city, the beaches, and the beautiful Pão de Açucar (Sugar Loaf Mountain).

I went up the Corcovado in a van, and by the time we got to the top point, it was starting to get dark, so I got to see a view of Rio at night, too. My only dissappointment was that the figure of the Christ is currently being renovated, so it´s all pretty much covered up with boards, and you can´t see much of it. I think, they only began this a couple of months ago, so I´m just a little bit late :( So I guess I´ll have to make a trip to Rio and the Corcovado again sometime!

On that first day, we also had to find our hostel. Luckily, while I was on the Corcovado, my fellow travelers, Julio and Rolando (both trainees in JF too, from Colombia), managed to find one for us in town, in the area called Botafogo, which is between the centro and the beaches. The hostel was pretty decent, although it was the first time I had slept in a hostel room with other girls, without any friends in the room of my own ;) (The boys had to share a separate room).

Climbing the Selaron stairs in Lapa ^^
 

Now for the curious part: Lapa. Lapa is a neighbourhood in central Rio which by day is a residential area. But by night... it turns crazy. It´s like nothing I´ve ever seen before. The area comprises a whole bunch of streets, which in the weekend fills up with people from all over the city, and booms until the day comes (so I´ve been told, I couldnt actually hold it out that long myself). We actually went there both Friday and Saturday nights, and apparently those nights, because of Easter, were "quiet" for Lapa´s standards. But to me, a poor little European, by the time I left on the second night, Lapa had begun to seem like a complete madhouse. All over the place, there´s crazy people, bars booming out all kinds of music, and just... lots and lots and lots of people, and taxis, and noise. But ultimately, it certainly is a good place to party, it´s something to experience, and... well, manage to actually get through.

Lapa!

We went to a club there the first night, where they play a popular type of Brazilian music called funk. Funk is basically like Brazilian rap, I think originating from the favelas (shantytowns). Funk is crazy. I´d wanted to go to a funk party already in JF, but it was my first time in Rio, and I wasnt actually quite prepared for it, because the way some people dance it, at least there in Lapa, is pretty memorable for its extravertedness. It can be pretty intimidating for a first timer at a funk party, as people do more than go down to the floor, let´s just say that.

There is also a beautiful - and unexpected - street in Lapa which features a staircase, designed by the Brazilian artist Celaron, along two walls made of a variety of colourful tiles, all very random and beautiful, with images from various countries, with a dark red overall background. I actually even found a Dutch tile among the many there, which said "Doe wat je wilt, kletsen doen ze toch". Random, right? But the street is really worth a visit!

And last, but not least, and certainly not in this case, I´ve been to Ipanema and Copacabana! We stayed at Ipanema during the day on the beach (and naturally, I got burnt), and I swam a bit, but soon after the waves started coming crashing so hard, it was a bit scary to come far into the water, at least for me. Ipanema is a beautiful beach, with the view of Pão de Açucar in the distance, and a lovely blue sea. Later, we also went by Copacabana, another famous beach a walking distance from Ipanema. It´s hard to believe I´ve actually been to these places now, as they still seem like these distant dream places for me, because of the fame they´ve acquired throughout the world.

Ipanema beach, so beautiful!

Well, that´s all in all the main highlights of my trip to Rio! I´ve added some pictures for you guys to see, of the views from the Corcovado, Lapa, and Ipanema. I hope you enjoyed reading it, and I havent overloaded you with information ;)

 

Beijos!

Um pouco sobre minha vida em Brasil!

Hey everyone! :)

Here I am again, writing, yay :) It´s raining heavily outside (it tends to do this in Juiz de Fora, locals say that in one day the city can go through four seasons), and as I´m leaving on my Easter weekend trip one day later, this is a good opportunity to write a little more!

Of course, it´s hard to summarize everything in the last two weeks, but I´m gonna give a few highlights. My work at Saci, the bilingual school, has been going pretty well, the teachers are so nice and friendly, and many kids are very cute; and it´s nice to be able to work with kids of different ages, ie there is different groups of classes, from just 3 years old to about 13. But I also just really enjoy hanging out and talking to the teachers and also their assistants (those in the classes with the small children). And what´s really chill, is I can come in at 9:30 in the morning and head to the lunch room to have coffee, hot chocolate (they have a great one called Nescau from Nestle here), and even breakfast with some of the other teachers! (Although that´s technically my second breakfast, since I also eat and have a cup of coffee at home before I leave). Some of the teachers and other staff dont speak much English though, so I´m really trying to advance my Portuguese, which is also useful at home. One of the teachers has offered to give me portuguese classes, so hopefully by the time I return home, I´m gonna amaze you all with my skills :)

Last week was also Saci´s 45th anniversary, so there was a party at school in the evening. There were lots of kids and their parents, a comedian-magician (though, in Portuguese), jumping castles, and cotton candy! I helped make some with the teachers, which was really fun. And now there is one more t-shirt hanging in my closet, from Saci :)

So that´s been pretty cool, I always look forward to going to school in the morning (imagine that!). I had to give a cultural presentation (about me and my culture, and how I live etc, so kids can get to know me) for a bunch of the oldest classes the other week (so, adolescents... eek!), and I was really nervous, since their last trainee´s presentation was apparently really cool, and I didnt wanna seem boring after that. But I guess it went ok, which is good, coz I´ve got more of those to come for the younger kids!

It´s funny living with a host family, esp if I often have to try hard to understand them and be understood bcoz of the language. But the food is very nice here, I have lots of room to roam about, there´s a dog that likes anyone and everyone (and me, too! sometimes it doesnt wanna let me leave), and it´s quite well located, not too far from downtown. Juiz de Fora is not a very big city, about half a million people, so the center is not too difficult to walk by foot. Since the bus to school goes for about 25 mins, I also get to see some more of the city, which is nice, although on the way back it gets so hot!! Yep, it´s still summer here, pretty much 30 degrees every afternoon, but then it has also suddenly rained on several days. And rain here is not really like in Holland, it´s always very hard, and can actually go on for a while. It´s still going now, for probably an hour already, at least.

I´ve met several other Aiesecers here, and they´re a nice bunch! We went out to a couple of bars a couple of times now, but I still have to get to a real club party, as every time we ended up in a night-time fast food place instead. Brazilian music is really cool, so I´m looking forward to that! My first weekend here, I also went with my host family to the 15th birthday party of their cousin, and the 15th birthday is a big deal here in Brazil! (And I think, other countries in South America, too, since I´ve heard of this before). It was pretty interesting, and was kinda funny to see all these 14-15 year old girls in short dresses and high heels, all looking like models. It´s a weird feeling when you are somewhat intimidated by a bunch of girls 8 years younger than you.

I chatted to the cousin of my host-mum and her 13 year old daughter at this party, and the three of us managed to make way with my very limited Portuguese (remember, this was only my 4th day in the country), and their limited English (although the girl´s English wasnt bad for her age, I have to say). It was pretty hilarious actually, as during the conversation Rafaela (the daughter) frequently remarked that her mother is "crazy", which I can´t really argue with. Her mother taught me all about "homem-galinha", the Brazilian term for literally "chicken-man", which in our understanding is a player, and she did so in reference to her own husband in his youth, who has another child just older than Rafaela, "carnaval, beber (drink)...". And all that with roars of laughter and exclamations of "bem feito!!" (Which basically means, well he deserved it). So that was pretty memorable. Ana Paula (the mother) had invited me to their house for lunch (which is the main meal here), so hopefully sometime soon I can go, since my Portuguese is better now, and it will likely be hilarious again.

Oh, and a quick note on the soap operas, here known as telenovelas: yep, everyone watches those, even guys, every night, and it goes for a few hours as they have several to get through every evening. It can be pretty entertaining, reminds me of how I used to watch them when I was younger, in Russia. It can be hard to follow though, even with all the Portuguese practice I get every day ;)

The main thing that bugs me here (get the irony), is the abundance of mosquitoes and how
much they´ve gotten to liking me. Despite the repellent, and the clothes, they get to me. My poor legs - I came all the way to Brazil, where many women around the city show off their shapes and legs, and I have to cover them up, should anyone get frightened... oh oh oh. But people had advised me about vitamin B, and hopefully in a couple of weeks, my blood won´t be so tasty. Oh my life in the tropics...

As this weekend is Easter weekend, I´m off on my first trip in Brazil, tomorrow I´m going to Rioooo de Janeeeiroo, with two other trainees. It´s kind of a late-minute-planned trip, so we´ll see how it all goes, but they´ve already been to Rio before (properly, not like me when I first arrived there and left right away), so I´m hoping for a nice time! They call Rio the "cidade maravilhosa" - "wonderful city", so I hope it will live up to its name!

So, that´s about it for now, but I will try to write soon after I get back from my weekend trip, and tell you about Rio (and anywhere else, if we happen to go)!!
I hope you all have a wonderful Easter, and keep me updated on what´s happening with all of you!
Muitos beijos e muitos abracos para todos!!

Ps oh yeah, I do get Portuguese and Spanish confused, so sometimes my speech is pretty mixed, you know, just as long as I can get myself understood lol. I think that language can be described as "Portañol" ;)